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Friday, August 4, 2017

Romance Roundup: Entangled Crush Edition

You would think it was Valentine's Day with all the romance I have been reading, but alas, it's a genre I cannot get enough of. I was thrilled to read these three Entangled: Crush books. The Entangled books always hit all the right notes for me, and I have never finished one and been unsatisfied. I can depend on these books to deliver a sweet, cute, low drama romance with an HEA, and that is what I am looking for most of the time.

This Entangled Teen Crush book contains adult language, melt-the-ice kisses, a drool-worthy hockey player, and a fun summer romance that will leave you smiling.Eighteen-year-old NHL player Logan Balanchuk came to Corrigan Falls to distract himself from his career-ending injury. He doesn’t want to even hear the word “hockey,” so when he meets Dawn, a beautiful, free-spirited girl who goes skinny-dipping instead of watching the draft, he’s intrigued. Neither of them is looking for anything serious, anyway.Dawn is happy to be a distraction, happy to have an adventurous summer romance with the dashing guy from the big city. She’s busy working three jobs and counting the days until she can move away from her tiny, hockey-obsessed town. Plus, she’s already done her time as a hockey player’s girlfriend—now she wants to live her own life and have her own adventures. But as things heat up with Logan, she realizes they aren’t as no-strings-attached as she thought…

This book was a fun and sweet read, and an interesting look at what it's like to be the hockey girlfriend.

Dawn was a little angsty as she was facing so many life changes and feeling a little "undefined". Until a few months ago, she had be a hockey girlfriend, but she left that life behind as she felt she was disappearing into that role. Logan was in Corrigan Falls trying to forget hockey after a severe injury cut her career short. With both Dawn and Logan wanting to avoid hockey, it seemed like a match made in heaven.

Things I liked:

Logan was fabulous. I found him charming and loved his relationship with his parents. Once he started being honest, he couldn't stop, and I always appreciate that. He was all in from the start, and put it all out there for Dawn. It was agonizing for me when she was resisting him. He was also struggling with his identity. He had been playing hockey since he was three years old, and now, at 18 he was sort of at a loss. He didn't expect to have to face life after hockey so soon. He sort of broke my heart a little for him.

Like I said, Dawn was angsty, and I sort of understood a little of it, but when we finally found out what she had been struggling with, I had a lot of empathy for her.

I loved Mrs. McMann! She was so fun and feisty. I didn't quite understand her purpose, but later, she shares her own love story with Dawn, and it become abundantly clear why she was incorporated in the story, and I thought it was a brilliant choice.

I thought theend was sort of fun. It was great bringing all the character in the series back in that venue. This sort of this is what I love about companion novels. That peek at past couples and feeling like I am catching up with old friends.

Overall: A sweet and fun story about breaking away from your past and looking toward your future.

The Rules of PersuasionAmity HopeSeries: N/AGenre: Young Adult, RomancePublisher: Entangled: CrushRating: 3.5 out of 5 starsGoodreads

Take things slow (her rule)

Make it believable (his rule)

After tragedy hit her family, Meg Matthews officially crossed the line from “good girl” to “bad girl.” Motorcycle? Check. Graffiti? Check. The only thing Meg hadn’t planned on was blackmail. Too bad now a certain infuriating boy holds Meg’s future in his hands…

When Luke Prescott—star pitcher and town golden boy—catches Meg vandalizing the school, she’s given two choices: face the consequences or enter into a fake relationship with him to get his parents and his ex off his back.

But as Meg and Luke grow closer, they both realize they’ve been keeping secrets from each other. Their fake relationship might be doomed from the start—if they can’t learn to open up to the one person they never thought they’d trust.

Disclaimer: This Entangled Teen Crush book contains late-night graffiti sessions, flirty baseball lessons, and a never-ending list of relationship rules just made to be broken.

Five Things I Loved About The Rules of Persuasion:

I have read many books where a fauxmance turns into a romance, but I still love it. I really adored seeing Luke and Meg's relationship evolve and change. In an effort to make their relationship look "real", they began spending time together, but eventually, they began seeking solace in each other. It was all sorts of awww-sweet for me.

The sibling connections were so lovely. Luke and his older brother, Gabe, had a united front in trying to escape their parents overreaching control, while each thing Meg shared with us about her sister just made my heart explode. I swear, I was moved to tears.

There was a lot of great banter between Meg and Luke. It was initially sparring, but grew to be friendly teasing and flirting. I absolutely enjoyed the fun and sassy stuff, but I probably equally adored when they bared their souls to each other.

These two really grew to support each other. The more time they spent with each other, the more they shared their personal woes. They were both dealing with a lot of family drama and emotional pain. I was so happy once they had each other to lean on and run to when they need comfort.

And the pièce de résistance - the grand gesture! I love when there is that big gesture, that is meant to win the other person over by showing them the depth and breath of your affection. This one was pretty major, and did double duty by tying up some loose ends too.

Forever my favorite grand gesture ❤️

Overall: So much to love in this fake relationship turned true love story.

Rebel Hart should be at home taking care of her father after his breakup with his boyfriend, not tromping through the woods at summer camp. He’s had his heart broken beyond repair, and the way she sees it, there’s only one person to blame—the boyfriend’s son. So when that infuriatingly gorgeous quarterback turns up at the same camp, she plans to make him pay.Justice Brody isn't happy about trading training camp for actual summer camp. But if he wants to stay on the football team, he has to show that he can be drama-free. He welcomes the anonymity that comes with summer camp…until he realizes the one girl who knows him better than anyone is there, too. Rebel is off-limits, impossibly beautiful…and trouble with a capital T. Still, he can’t stay away. And even as Rebel exacts her revenge, in several very embarrassing and painful ways, neither can she.Disclaimer: This Entangled Teen Crush book contains pranks, adult language, and kisses that will make you wish for a summer romance of your own.

This one was my favorite of the three. I don't know if it was the enemies-to-more trope that worked so well in this story or the fun camp setting, but I found myself devouring this book while a huge smile graced my face.

Rebel won my heart from page one. She loved her dad so fiercely, she was going to wage war with the boy, who she blamed for the demise of his romantic relationship. How do you not back someone with that type of family loyalty? Rebel was smart and sassy, but it was revealed that she was sort of wounded and actually wore her angst as armor. This girl was not afraid to be herself, and I was team Rebel from the start. Well, until I knew a little more about Justice.

Rebel described Justice as your a self-centered jock, but as I got to know Justice better, I learned that there was a lot more to him then met the eye. He was dealing with tons of unresolved issues. Some issues were relating to his dad's, his anger mis-management, and from his not so happy past. Justice was dealing with so many complex emotions, and he often made poor choices to protect himself from these feelings. But he had such a sweet side, and he melted my heart when he let it show.

I adored the dynamic between Rebel and Justice. I knew right away that I wanted this ship to succeed. They had so many delightful bouts of verbal sparring, but then they would have these really swoony. They also had some really honest talks, and bared their souls to each other. There were hijinks and many comedic moments. I couldn't help but enjoy myself.

The setting for the bulk of this book is a mountain summer camp. I never went to summer camp, but have always been fascinated by it. I loved all the traditional camp elements that Klehr built into this story. It absolutely added to the fun. The dances, the activities, and the lake all played a little role in the story, but my favorite were the pranks. I loved waiting to see what Rebel or Justice would do next.

I also have to talk about the survival guide. In order to alleviate some of her anxiety during her first year of sleep-away camp, Rebel's dad gave her Wolf Wilk's Guide to Surviving Any Disaster. This was not only her handbook for surviving life out in the woods, but it became her guide to life. It also served as Rebel's security blanket, odd but true. I thought it was a lot of fun getting peeks into this book, and the random facts were amusing as well.

This was an adorable story, filled with lots of fun moments, but also a lot of tender and sweet moments. There were some really strong friendships as well as touching family ties.

**I would like to thank the publisher for the advanced copies of these books.

I was seriously eyeing ARCs for two of these but ended up talking myself out of it because, seriously, the last thing I needed at the time (well, even now) was more ARCs. Breakaway was the one that truly caught my eye and reading your review makes me think I need to pick it up. I was on the fence about The Rules of Persuasion but as soon as you mentioned a grand gesture... sold. LOL I'm so on board for that. Funnily enough, it's your favorite of the three that didn't catch my attention. The whole revenge/pranking aspect just leaves me cold so, despite the family loyalty (which I love) I'll probably give that one a pass and focus on the other two.

The thing with Entangled book are, that they are usually quick reads. I plowed through these, but that can be because I am a lover of the lighter side type books and romances are my sweet spot. Breakaway was interesting, in that though technically YA, the characters had some really grown-up issues. The hero was dealing with the end of his career before he turned 19. It was a romance with hockey and lake-front view. What's not to like?

I liked Off the Ice too. I am looking forward to more Juniper Falls book for that matter. I have a penchant for hockey books. Have you read the Cold Fury books by Sawyer Bennett? They are adult, but I know you mix age groups like me.

Me too, Sam. I'd love to see some of the side characters from Off the Ice get their stories. (Btw, between the Juniper Limits series by Julie cross and the Juniper series by Lora Richardson, I get confused. LOL) I've never read anything by Sawyer Bennett although I own two of hers. Off Sides came in one of my Bookworm Boxes and I downloaded Sugar Daddy on the Kindle a while back. I'll have to check out the Cold Fury series. I've found that I enjoy hockey romances, too, even though I know zip about hockey and have never seen a single game. :)

I'm a sucker for a "fauxmance becomes real" story, so The Rules of Persuasion is calling my name. Hate to love is another trope that works really well for me, so I may need to check out Taming the Rebel too.

The Rules of Persuasion was probably the most emotional, because of what Meg was coping with. I shed some tears during that book. Rebel was just fun. Fun setting, fun banter. I really enjoyed my Entangled reading week.

I've been loving anything by Entangled Crush lately! They're such quality little romance reads. I read The Rules of Persuasion this week and loved it for much of the same reasons as you. It was especially great seeing how much they supported each other. At the start of the book, they were both in rough places, but I loved how their relationship also inspired them to grow and cope as the book went on. I feel like everyone is loving Taming the Rebel. I really need to get my hands on copy of that book. Great reviews! :)

I am such a stickler for growth and change in novels. If the characters revert to their past behaviors or have no growth, I get so angry. I have a good relationship with Entangled novels. They are usually very sweet and fun with a little bit of depth. I enjoy them.